Anniversaries, Two passings, a Return and more....

Wow. A lot has happened since my last post. July 13th would have marked the Space Shuttle's return but a fuel gauge malfunctioned in the External Tank. The "Return to Space" mission was delayed 13 days. Also on that day Patrick Stewart, the actor who portrayed Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies, celebrated his 65th birthday and Harrison Ford, famous for portraying the characters Han Solo and Indiana Jones turned 63.
One week later on the 20th, the day would mark the 36th Anniversary of man's landing on the moon.
Unfortnately the day would mark the passing of scifi icon. James Doohan who famously portrayed the Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise, Lt. Commander/Commander/Captain Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott, on the scifi series Star Trek and seven subsequent movies dies at the age of 85. He had been suffering from an number of ailments, including diabetes and Parkinson's Disease. This was a sad day for Star Trek fans around the world.
One day of sadness turns into a day of happiness and joy six days later when at 9:39 AM CDT on July 26th, 2005 Space Shuttle Discovery launches from Cape Canaveral, FL on a mission to resupply and repair the International Space Station. However, NASA's "Return to Space" was cut short when it was discovered that a piece of foam broke off the external tank during launch of Discovery.
Two and a half years earlier Space Shuttle Columbia would be struck by a piece of foam from the tank, breaching the forward edge of the right wing. This impact spelled doom for Columbia. Columbia broke apart and burned up during re-entry on Feb. 1, 2003. I was on my way to the mall that morning and heard about it on the radio and was shocked. I couldn't believe that it happened again. I'm old enough to remember the loss of Challenger, which I still remember. It was a sad day in 1986 and in 2003.
After the Columbia accident, NASA took measures to protect the orbiter, specifically redesigning the external tank along with some other modifications. As for Discovery, NASA stated that once the orbiter returned, flights of the shuttle fleet would be suspendend until a way could be found to prevent foam from falling off the external tank during launch. Originally scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on August 8, Discovery returned to Earth, landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California this morning at 7:11 CDT on this day, August 9, 2005.
Saturday, August 6, 2005 and today August 9, 2005 mark the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan respectfully. These bombings in 1945 lead to the surrender of Japan on August 15. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese were killed and wounded by the atomic bombs. Survivors would and continue to suffer from radiation sickness.
Late on Sunday, August 7, 2005 famous ABC journalist and news anchor Peter Jennings, who had been battling lung cancer since April, died at the age of 67. He spent more then 20 years anchoring ABC's World News Tonight. He was a pillar in the television journalism world and will be sorrily missed.

Long Time, No See

Well I guess this post is very much overdue. Let's see where to begin... First and foremost my thoughts go out to all the Londoners who have been impacted by the terrorists' attacks that took place there in London on Thursday. Very cowardly and tragic. Also my thoughts go out to those in the path of Hurricane Dennis. I hope all make it through safely. As for me personally I still don't have a second job which really has me worried. I'm hoping to here from the county library soon for an interview but I have no idea if it will really happen. I got a major sunburn on Thursday. It hurts like hell but my boss said I should get some after sun lotion, which I did and it has helped so far. Anyway St. Louis Cardinals continue to do well in baseball. Despite losing to San Fran tonight, Cardinals are 55-32. They are 11.5 games in front of Houston and the best ball team in the National League. Well anyway that's all for now. Adios for now

Been Busy

The past month has been busy. I've moved to a new apartment and am off campus for the first time in about 4 years. Classes are now over for the moment until summer in about a month and I've been promoted at work. I still need to find a second job to be able to make all my expenses. My parents were down last weekend to deliever a bed and other furniture. Their visit was good and enjoyable. We attempted to see a Springfield Cardinals minor league baseball game Friday night but it rained really bad causing an hour delay. It also rained during the game and we left after the 4th inning. Oh, Well. Maybe next time. Springfield cardinals are not doing well, actually they are 6 games out of First, but there are only 4 teams in the division!!!! As for St. Louis, they are in first place!!! The St. Louis Cards are 10 games above .500 and 5 games in front of the Brewers.
Anyway gotta hit the sack early again tonight since I have to open the Library tomorrow. Live Long and Prosper

I'm Psyched!!!!!

I was checking baseball scores on Yahoo, seeing St. Louis beating Houston 1-0 in 10 innings. A little later in yahoo sports news and read that St. Louis pitcher Mark Mulder pitched ALL 10 INNINGS!!!!! A Cardinals starting pitcher hasn't gone extra innings since 1989!!!! I was surprised and excited cause that's very rare in baseball today. Another thing is Mulder outlasted Roger Clemens which I think is great cause in my opinion that guy should have retired as a Yankee (YUK!!!, I seriously depise that team) back in '03, but who am I to judge. I just had to write how I felt about this event. I'm PSYCHED!!!! Until next time, Live Long and Prosper

A Really, REALLY GOOD Day

Today was very good day. I received my federal tax refund which will help cover costs on getting a new apartment. Also, I had an interview this morning and was hired for part time staff position at my current place of employment. Basically I'm getting promoted and a raise. I think that the promotion will surprise a lot of my coworkers since I kept my mouth shut over that last month or so. Normally I'm a talkative person with people I know but I wanted this position very bad so I was able to keep quite. As for an apartment I have one picked out and plan to sign the lease in about a week. Academics aside many things in my life are going well. I'm happy despite knowing that I am going to face some large challlenges in the near future. Well that is all for now Live Long and Prosper

Signs of Spring in SW Missouri

We'll it is definately Spring here in SW MO. We just had some heavy rain yesterday and Tuesday night which is not unusual for this part of the country. There was cloud to ground lightening and the thunder was loud while I was at work. I'm excited by the fact that baseball has started. My favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals are sitting at 1-1 and are tied for third in the NL Central Division. Of course it's only the first week of major league baseball but it's still exciting.

Changing of the Guard and One Odd Week

Today is a sad day around the world as the citizens of this planet mourn the loss of a great and insperational man, Pope John Paul II. This the man who helped free his native land, Poland, from communism, travelled the world to spread the word of God, the teachings of Jesus Christ and his own message of peace. The coming days and weeks will be most difficult and taxing on Catholics around the world. I feel that Non-Catholic Christians, like myself, and Non-Christians should show our deepest condolences and respect to any and all Catholics that we, individually, know. It maybe a sad day but it is also a day of joy for all Christians; knowing that the Pope is released from his ills and has joined God and Christ in heaven.
Wow what a week it's been... well I really should say the past 9-10 days really. I went home to visit with my parents over Spring Holiday/Break between Thursday March 24 and Monday March 28 for Easter. During those 4-5 days I was able to see my grandparents on both sides of the family and my best friend. He and I saw the movie, Robots Saturday evening. The church that I have attended nearly my entire life had three services on Easter Sunday and the last one which my parents and I attended was nearly 95 minutes long!!!! A few members left after communion was served so I assume to prepare for family meals. I came back to Springfield, MO Monday. The trip usually only takes me 2 and a half hours but it was nearly 6 hours then. Of course it doesn't help getting lost twice trying to follow the remenants of Route 66 and getting a speeding ticket some 10 to 12 miles from home. Oh well. I'll pay the ticket right after I get paid which is in about a week.
Between Tuesday and Friday I worked four works in the morning doing the usual along with a few other things that the full time supervisors do since they wanted to be lazy. I spent a few of the afternoons hunting for an apartment after the end of the Spring semester. I think I've got it down to one place but there are a few others I'd like to look. I don't know if I'll have time since I haven't done any academic work this week at all. History has been made here in Springfield over the last few days. Thursday evening the Women's basketball team of Southwest Missouri State University, the Lady Bears, won the Women's National Invitational Tourament at Hammons Student Center at the Springfield Campus of SMSU. The ladies beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 86-80.
Today and Tomorrow at the (nearly) year old Hammons Field, two exhibition baseball games hosted by the new Springfield Cardinals Minor League Double-A baseball team. This new team is hosting its parent, the 2004 National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals. The first game ended with St. Louis beating Springfield 4-3. Springfield has not seen Cardinals baseball since the either the 1930s or 1950s. Truely an historic day with more than 10,400 attending the first game.
As I said what a week but I'm hitting the sack but not before I change the clocks around here for Daylight Savings Time. Until later, all are to "Live Long and Prosper"

The First Rambling

This is the beginning of a new adventure in tech for me. As a person who is studying to be programmer, well sort of; one would think I would know about blogs but this is all new to me. I did a little reading about them but couldn't decide if I wanted to create one or not but here it is nonetheless. My supervisor is partly responsible for getting this blog started since he set his up tonight to here at work. I'm not sure what else to write for the moment so I'll bid any readers out there a good evening